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Abstract:

Dermal contact with potentially toxic agricultural and industrial chemicals is a common hazard encountered in occupational, accidental spill and environmental contamination scenarios. Different solvents and chemical mixtures may influence dermal absorption. The effects of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) on the stratum corneum
partitioning and permeability in porcine skin of 10 agricultural and industrial chemicals in water, ethanol and
propylene glycol were investigated. The chemicals were phenol, p-nitrophenol, pentachlorophenol, methyl parathion, ethyl parathion, chlorpyrifos, fenthion, simazine, atrazine and propazine. SLS decreased partitioning into stratum corneum from water for lipophilic compounds, decreased partitioning from propylene glycol and
did not alter partitioning from ethanol. SLS effects on permeability were less consistent, but generally decreased
permeability from water, increased permeability from ethanol and had an inconsistent effect on permeability
from propylene glycol. It was concluded that, for the compounds tested, partitioning into the stratum corneum was determined by the relative solubility of the solute in the donor solvent and the stratum corneum lipids.
Permeability, however, reflected the result of successive, complex processes and was not predictable from stratum corneum partitioning alone. Addition of SLS to solvents altered partitioning and absorption
characteristics across a range of compounds, which indicates that partition coefficients or skin permeability from neat chemical exposure should be used with caution in risk assessment procedures for chemical mixtures.